Swinney rejects claims he has lost confidence in Constance over grooming review
The First Minister has defended Justice Secretary Angela Constance after the Scottish Conservatives asked if he has “lost confidence” in the minister to oversee the grooming gangs review.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth announced in Holyrood on Wednesday that a national review of evidence on the operation of grooming gangs in Scotland will take place.
He said: “John Swinney says he’s satisfied but victims have no faith in this Government and no faith in this Justice Secretary.
“The mother of Taylor, who was gang-raped as a child in care, told me that there ‘is no substance to anything Angela Constance says’ and that… ‘she cannot oversee anything’.
“I wonder if perhaps the First Minister has concluded the same thing in private. Yesterday’s announcement of a grooming gangs review was announced not by the Justice Secretary but by the Education Secretary. It looks like the responsibility for this inquiry and the decision makings on its findings will not be Angela Constance.
“Has John Swinney also realised that she (Ms Constance) cannot possibly oversee this review and does that not show that he’s also lost confidence in his Justice Secretary?”
Mr Swinney said that is “not the case” and the reason Ms Gilruth led the announcement was because the review concerns child protection issues.
He added: “The Cabinet Secretary for Education led the discussion at the Cabinet on Tuesday which involved all Cabinet colleagues, including the Justice Secretary, about the steps the Government was taking…
“All of this is the responsibility of the Government led by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, and we have set out to Parliament the steps that we are taking.”
The review was announced in the Scottish Parliament during a Scottish Labour-led debate into transparency in tackling group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Professor Alexis Jay, who chaired the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales and is working on Scotland’s national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group, will lead the review.